Body molding garment



Oct. 23, 1962 M. HALSTEAD BODY MOLDING GARMENT 2 Sheets-Sfieet 1 Filed Sept. 28, 1959 INVENTOR l'all flaliiedd Mar $4M; M$m

ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 23, 1962 M. HALSTEAD 3,059,645

BODY MOLDING GARMENT Filed Sept. 28, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYJ' United States Patent Ofi ice 3,659,645 Patented Get. 23., 1962 3,059 646 BGDY MOLDING GARMENT Marian Halstead, 26 Grarnerey Park S., New York 3, NY. Filed Sept. 28, I959, Ser. No. 842,675 5 Ciaims. (Cl. 128535) This invention relates to body molding garments and particularly a body molding garment for feminine wear in supporting hose or stockings and at the same time a garment providing figure control for the upper central abdomen, side upper hips and central back of the wearer in use. A more specific aspect of the instant invention relates to the incorporation in a garment of a dart construction ideally suited to provide improved body molding contours to the garment material with a minimum of bulk or ridging at the location of the dart construction in the garment.

Many garment construction proposals have heretofore been made for providing suitable hose support for womens stockings. Many of these prior proposals incorporate interrelated or interconnected belts and straps with hose engaging clasps attached thereto to achieve the required hose supporting function. Many other garment structures incorporate the hose supporting function into elaborate girdle and foundation garment structures. These garments in many instances are uncomfortable for the wearer in that the belt or straps incorporated there in or the girdle or foundation garment tend to cut into the wearers body and resist a conformity to the contours of the body.

In the invention as described in detail hereinafter, the garment is constructed to provide body molding such that smooth and comfortable fit of the garment over the lower portion of the torso Without binding or gouging of the flesh at any area is achieved. Thus, as a primary object of the invention the garment provides body molding characteristics in conjunction with hose support to provide figure control and smoothness of fit over the abdomen, side upperhips and central back of the wearer in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a body molding garment incorporating a series of interconnected and overlapping generally triangular members formed into a waist encircling band, with the lower ends of the members having means providing for hose support and the members being formed into body molding contours by shortening the upper edge of each member as may be carried out by providing a downwardly extending dart from the upper edge of such member to provide body molding and support below the waistline of the wearer.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved body molding garment useable for hose support and which will accommodate the Wide variation between waist and hip measurements of the human figure giving natural smoothness over the wearers anatomy and flexibility with the wearers movements without abnormally tight tension across the body surface engaged by the garment in use.

It is also an object of the instant invention to provide a garment dart construction incorporating only two overlapped layers of material to oifer a minimum of bulk or ridging and render the dart construction reversible by its identical appearance on opposite sides of the material, such that improved appearance in the finished garment and comfort when the dart construction is disposed next to the skin will result.

The above and more specific objects of the invention will become more readily apparent from the description of a specific embodiment of the invention given hereinafter in conjunction With the accompanying drawings. Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of the body molding garment of applicants invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the garment of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view of the garment of FIGURE 1 in an opened flat position;

FIGURE 4 is a detail view of a member incorporated into the garment of FEGURES 1 through 3 showing the manner of initially forming the dart construction in such member; and

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 and showing the member with the dart construction in its completed form.

The body molding garment as shown in FIGURE 1 includes a waist encircling band 16 which preferably is of elastic material. This band, as a part of the garment, is adapted to be fastened around the waist of the wearer to retain the garment in position. In the embodiment specifically illustrated a series of snap fasteners 11 are provided adjacent the opposite ends of the band to interconnect the ends in the desired waist encircling relation. As shown in FIGURE 3, a group of snaps are provided on one end to permit a degree of adjustment of the encirclement of the band relative to the waist of the wearer and thus accommodate wearers having difierent waist sizes.

Although the band it which as stated is preferably elastic, is shown in the embodiment of the drawings completely encircling the wearers waist, it is to be understood that within the scope of the instant invention this elastic band may extend only as much as three-quarters of the Way around the Waist of the wearer. In other Words, the band need not necessarily extend entirely to the ends of the garment in its open position as shown in FIGURE 3. Thus, with elastic for only three-quarters of the length and terminating equally spaced from the ends of the garment, it has been found that the waist of the garment will still be effectively drawn in to conform to the wearers waist across the hips, abdomen and central back. Additionally, it may be pointed out that under the teachings of this invention, the members described hereinbelow may be interconnected in such a manner as to by themselves form a waist encircling band into which the desired elasticity may be incorporated. In such a variation a separate elastic band such as 10 is alleviated.

Also with respect to the specific disclosure of snap fastening means for connecting the ends of the garment in waist encircling relation, it may be pointed out that the snap fasteners are shown merely by way of illustration and that it is within the contemplation of the invention herein that other fasteners may be employed, such as hook and eye fasteners, buttons, ties or even the recently introduced Velcro adjustable closure. Additionally, the garment of the instant invention may be formed with a waist encircling band having sufficient elasticity incorporater therein to permit the garment to be stepped into without opening.

It should further be noted that, although the ends of the garment are shown on the drawings as being convertible in aligned overlapping relation (see FIGURE 1), the positioning of the fastener means on these ends to provide for crossing of these'overlappingends at a slight angle has been found to be advantageous in that such crossing will provide more abdominal control and support than where the ends are overlapped and are connected in aligned relation.

The body molding garment includes a series of gen erally triangularly shaped members 15 depending from the Waist encircling band It In the disclosed embodiment there are four such members with each member having one edge thereof extending along the band 10..

a) limited area of adjoining members freely overlap each other. This overlapping of the members gives the garment an appearance of overlapped petals. Preferably the members are not interconnected throughout the overlapped portions thereof except for the part of the edge connected to the waist encircling band 10. This relationship promotes the molding characteristics of the garment when pull is applied at the lower end of the members as is encountered when the garment is used for hose support.

As discussed hereinabove, the body molding garment simulates overlapped petals formed by generally triangular shaped members interconnected in 21 waist encircling band. As shown, four such members are provided. This number of members gives balanced control for the garment in conjunction with its hose supporting function. However, it will be recognized that three or more members may be employed in making up a body molding garment incorporating the features of this invention.

Each member has attached at its lowermost end a hose supporting strap 16, with each strap in turn having a hose engaging clasp 17 at the lower end thereof. As is conventional in hose supporters of this type, the strap 16 is preferably adjustable in length to accommodate in use the particular length of the hose being worn and leg length, etc. of the wearer.

Each member as shown is suitably provided with a hem 18 extending around the perimeter of the member where it depends from band 1%} and consistent with the desire of obtaining an attractive appearance for the garment, a suitable edging such as the scalloped edging shown at 19 is attached to extend along the hem 18, thus enhancing the overlapped petal appearance of the garment.

Each of the member 15 is formed to provide a body molding contour which will give figure control and smoothness of fit for the members over the portions of the body engaged by the garment in use. This formation of the members is achieved by shortening the edge of the member disposed in the waist encircling band to remove fullness at the waist of the wearer and give the desired body molding contour to the member.

Preferably this shortening of the edge of the member to remove fullness is achieved by providing a dart 20 tapering downwardly from the upper edge of the member into the body portion of the member. As shown on the drawings, the darts 20 are disposed essentially midway of the length of this upper edge of the member, which edge is disposed in or attached to the waist encircling band. Further, the extent of overlapping of the members 15 in their interconnection into a waist encircling band is such that the darts 21) in adjacent members are disposed at the ends of the overlapped areas of such members with the endmost members terminating at the ends of band 10.

The generally triangular members 15 in the embodiment illustrated are all of uniform length to the extent that they depend from the waist encircling band 10. It will be recognized that instances may arise where uniform length of the members may not be desired and it is contemplated that this invention embraces non-uniform length of the generally triangular members as well as the uniform length proposal as specifically illustrated on the drawings. Additionally, whereas it is preferable that the members 15 be freely overlapped and thus independent for movement relative to one another since a pivotal type of action in the waist encircling band and more freedom of movement of the wearer of the garment is achieved by this free overlapping, it is to be understood that the overlapped areas may be interconnected where the feature of pivoting between the members is not considered necessary.

Since the garment of this invention is intended to provide body molding and therefore in use is disposed close or next to the skin of the wearer, the smoothness of fit and lack of bulkiness or ridges in the garment is of particular importance. In this respect, whereas the shortening of the upper edge of the members 15 to take out fullness and form the members into the desired body molding contour may be effected by the use of gathers, easing the upper edge of the member into the top edge 'as it is sewn into a waist encircling band or by use of darts 26, the use of the dart construction illustrated is of particular advantage as a part of the instant invention, this advantage being achieved in the garment by incorporating the specific dart construction as described in detail hereinafter.

FIGURE 4 shows one of the members 15 in its initial cut out condition prior to hemming and prior to the final forming of the dart 20 in the member. In the initial step of forming the dart construction, a cut 25 is made extending downwardly from the upper edge of member 15 to extend for the full length of the desired dart to be formed. It will be recognized that the length of the dart is dependent upon factors including the size of the member 15, the extent of fullness to be removed by providing the dart along the upper edge of the member, etc.

In forming the dart construction, the upper end of the member 15 is formed on opposite sides of cut 25 to have a raised segment 26 at one side of the cut and a lesser raised segment 27 at the opposite side of the cut. This formation of the upper end of member 15 is provided to insure that when the portions of the material of member 15 are overlapped in forming the dart, in the manner as shown in FIGURE 5 and described hereinafter, the ends of the overlapped portions will coincide, giving a smoothly curved edge along the upper end of the member.

In forming the dart relative to the cut 25, the material on opposite sides of the cut 25 is overlapped with the overlapped area tapering downwardly from the upper end of member 15 to the lower end of cut 25. As shown in FIGURE 5, each side of the cut overlies the adjacent material of the member 15 such that the dart construction has only two layers of overlapped material. The edges of each of the overlapped areas may be attached to the adjacent material of the adjoining layer by stitching 28 and 29, or, if desired, the overlapped areas may be bonded or adhesively secured in whole or in part.

In the finished dart construction as shown in FIG- URE 5, the specifically formed end portions 26 and 27, as shown in FIGURE 4, coincide to provide a smoothly curved upper end for member 15. Both faces of the member 15 will have an identical appearance with reference to the dart construction and thus the dart construction will be reversible in nature. Since only two layers of material are overlapped, bulkiness and ridges at the location of the dart will be minimized, providing a smoother overall surface for the member 15.

It will be appreciated that the dart construction as described hereinabove with reference to its application to the body molding garment heretofore described offers particular advantages for smoothness of fit of such garment. By the same token, this distinctive dart construction is advantageous in that it may be applied to other types of garments as it provides a reversible dart, avoids bulkiness at the dart location, is finished without turning the garment over or without tying threads and eliminates top stitching and many of the other multiple steps usually required in prior methods of constructing darts.

Certain variations of the dart construction may be mentioned, such as instead of merely making a cut at the desired location of the dart as shown at 25, if a particularly wide dart is deemed necessary to achieve removal of the required amount of material fullness, a limited portion of material on opposite sides of the cut may be removed. Thus a V-type cut will be made and the material remaining on opposite sides of the V-type cut overlapped with the degree of overlap for removal of a particular amount of fullness being less than that required where only a cut such as 25 is made prior to forming the dart construction.

Also the dart construction described herein may be applied to remove internal fullness of material. In other words, where material requires the removal of fullness somewhere other than at an edge, an elongated cut may be made and the material on opposite sides of the cut overlapped to form a dart construction having an overlapped area with a generally diamond shape. If a substantial amount of internal material fullness is to be removed, a narrow diamond shape cut may be made and the material on opposite sides of the cut overlapped and secured in the overlapped state to form the internal dart.

An additional advantage of the dart construction described herein flows from its particular special utility as useable in brassieres and body molding garments wherein the dart construction, in addition to its smoothness and reversible characteristics, provides a pocket into which additional stiifening means may be inserted and enclosed. If a multiplicity of overlapped darts are needed, they may be spaced in any desired manner and may even overlap each other, creating a curved area of high strength and particular smoothness While acting as a reinforcing area.

It is to be understood that while a particular example of the body molding garment of the present invention has been illustrated and certain variations in construction discussed hereinabove, innumerable variations of construction may be made within the scope and spirit of the claims of the present invention. Thus, within the scope of the claims numerous additions, changes and even omissions of structural detail shown and described herein may be made in carrying out the invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim:

1. A body molding garment comprising a series of generally triangularly shaped members each having a first edge with a body portion extending therefrom, means securing the first edges of said members to form a waist encircling band having said body portions of said members depending from said band, each member having said first edge thereof overlapping the first edges of adjacent members such that adjoining members freely overlap each other for a portion of their respective areas in sufficient depth to cover the protruding portions of the upper central abdomen, side upper hips, and central back of the wearer in use, said free overlap of adjacent members providing an overlapping area to cover each side upper hip of the wearer for ease of leg movement of the wearer in use of the garment, means at the end of each member remote from said band for attachment of hose supporters, each of said members having said first edge disposed in said band shortened to remove fullness at such edge of the member and to form the members into body molding contours to distribute tension from the hose supporters throughout the areas of the members for improved figure control and smoothness of fit over the upper central abdomen, side upper hips and central back of the wearer in use.

2. A body molding garment comprising a series of generally triangularly shaped members, each of said members having a body portion, one edge of each of said members being secured in overlapping relation to an edge of adjacent members to define a continuous top edge band for the garment with the body portions of adjacent members depending from such top edge band to freely overlap each other for a portion of their respective areas in sufficient depth to cover the protruding portions of the upper central abdomen, side upper hips, and central back of the wearer in use, said free overlap of adjacent members providing an overlapping area to cover each side upper hip of the wearer for ease of leg movement of the wearer in use of the garment, a hose supporting strap for each member and having a hose engaging clasp at one end thereof with the opposite end of said strap connected to such member at the end of such member remote from said top edge band, each of said members having dart means tapering downwardly from said one edge into the body portion of the member to form the members into body molding contours to give proper dis tribution of tension from said hose supporting straps ac- :complishing improved figure control and smoothness of fit over the upper central abdomen, side upper hips and central back of the wearer in use.

3. A body molding garment comprising a waist encircling band having opposite ends, fastening means on the opposite ends of said band to fasten the garment around the Waist of the wearer with the ends thereof overlapping, a series of generally triangularly shaped members, each of said members having a body portion, each of, said members having one edge thereof secured along its length to said band with the body portion of the member depending from the band, said one edge of each member overlapping said one edge of each adjacent member such that adjoining members freely overlap each other for a portion of their respective areas in suflicient depth to cover the protruding portions of the upper central abdomen, side upper hips, and central back of the wearer in use, said free overlap of adjoining members providing an overlapping area to cover each side upper hip of the wearer for ease of leg movement of the wearer in use of the garment, means at the end of each member remote from said band for attachment of hose supporters, each of said members having said one edge shortened to remove fullness at such edge of the member and form the members into body molding contours to give proper distribution of tension from the hose supporters accomplishing improved figure control and smoothness of fit over the upper central abdomen, side upper hips and central back of the wearer in use.

4. A body molding garment comprising a waist encircling band having opposite ends with at least a portion of said band being elastic, adjustable fastening means on the opposite ends of said band to fasten the garment around the waist of the wearer with the ends thereof overlapping, a series of generally triangularly shaped members, each of said members having a body portion, each of said members having one edge thereof secured along its length to said band with the body portion of the member depending from the band, said one edge of said member overlapping said one edge of each adjacent member such that adjoining members freely overlap each other for a portion of their respective areas in suflicient depth to cover the protruding portions of the upper central abdomen, side upper hips, and central back of the wearer in use, said free overlap of adjacent members providing an overlapping area to cover each side upper hip of the wearer for ease of leg movement of the wearer in use of the garment, a hose supporting strap for each member and having a hose engaging clasp at one end thereof with the opposite end of said strap connected to such member at the end of such member remote from said band, each of said members having dart means tapering downwardly from said one edge into the body portion of the member to form the members into body molding contours to give proper distribution of tension from said hose supporting straps accomplishing figure control and smoothness of fit over the upper central abdomen, side upper hips and central back of the wearer in use.

5. A body molding garment comprising a series of generally triangularly shaped members, said members being secured in end to end overlapping relation to define a continuous top edge band for the garment, said members having body portions depending from said top edge band, said body portion of each of said members overlapping the body portion of each of the adjacent members to provide overlapping areas extending a sufficient distance downwardly from said top edge band to cover the protruding portions of the upper central abdomen, side upper hips and central back of the wearer in use,

a said overlapping areas including an overlapping area to cover each side upper hip of the wearer, the overlapping areas to cover the side upper hips of the wearer having the body portions which form such areas freely overlapped to provide for ease of leg movement of the wearer in use of the garment, means at the end of each member remote from said top edge band for attachment of hose supporters, each of said members having the edge disposed in said top edge band shortened to remove fullness at such edge of the member and to form the members into body molding contours to distribute tension from the hose supporters throughout the areas of the members for improved figure control and smoothness of fit Where the areas of the members, including said overlapping areas, conform over the upper central abdomen, side upper hips and central back of the wearer in use.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,302,108 Wetzel Apr. 29, 1919 1,842,996 Pelton Jan. 26, 1932 2,530,850 Atchley Nov. 21, 1950 2,654,890 Trope et a1. Oct. 13, 1953 2,745,103 Van Horne May 15, 1956 2,788,524 Perrier Apr. 16, 1957 2,818,575 Hills Jan. 7, 1958 

